....more specifically an '08 1.6 Elite.
And it was really dull to drive
Not necessarily unpleasant in a sort of 'get you from A to B' sense, because it did get me from A to B, but I can't remember the last time I drove a car that completely sucked the fun out of the driving.
Steering
The worst part of this car has to be the steering. It feels so stodgy and disconnected from the wheels. You turn the steering wheel and then half a second later the wheels start turning in the direction you want. You try and turn in, then after the initial half a second of stodge, the front wheels begin to bite, and you think 'Ah!', but then the car resists and you're constantly trying to get the car to turn in the direction you want. It's like it's constantly protesting or fighting with you when you try and do anything other than slow gentle manoeuvres. The steering isn't progressive either and has inconsistent weighting.
Ride and Handling
I suspect the handling isn't too bad. It seems to cope reasonably well with a series of high speed manouevres but the steering is so bad, that you don't ever feel like you're really in control of the car. I have to admit that during the first 10 miles of driving this car, I absolutely HATED the way it drove. Over 800 miles, I ended up hating it slightly less, but does sadden me than a manufacturer can produce a £15,000 car that is so mediocre to drive. Not horrendous, but just dull and stodgy.
The current shape Civic is lightyears ahead of this car in terms of sharpness and the immediacy of its responses. With the Civic, if want to dart into a gap, it darts in. You want to do a sharp right and it does a sharp right. It's like an extension of you. The Astra is a bit like a fat woman with her arms crossed and a constant frown who refuses move despite how much you shout at her. The only way she moves is when you give her a big boot up the backside, and even then she doesn't quite end up the direction that you want her to....
Ride quality is knobbly, even with what looked to be 205/55/16s. It wasn't uncomfortable, but you definitely know whether you're on a badly surfaced road because you feel every indentation and pothole. This car also seems to have a lot of choppy vertical movement over bumps and crests for some reason.
Engine
The 1.6 engine...well its a 1.6 engine with 120bhp or so, so it's never going to set the world alight. But it's just so...'ho hum'. Some low capacity engines provide verve even if they are lower power, but this engine simply does the job of getting the car moving and nothing more. Bit throbby and uneven at idle with some vibrations going through the seat, and it even sounds a bit diesely gruff at low speed in 2nd. Strangely, it seems to even out a bit at higher revs. Not a particularly economical engine - I got 33mpg average over what was mostly motorway miles (Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and back). Compare that to the 36mpg average of the more powerful 1.8 Civic over the same journey...
Refinement and build quality
In terms of refinement and build quality, there's a lot of noticeable wind noise around the A pillars at speed as well as tyre rumble. That drones out the engine, which is relatively quiet at speed in comparison. The lights on the radio/trip/AC/temp controls didn't work so you had to fumble for the control at night which is a bit worrying for car with 5k on the odometer. Didn't notice any squeeks or rattles though.
Overall
Overall, I'd give it 5/10. The Golf, Civic and particularly the Focus, are significantly better.
And it was really dull to drive
Not necessarily unpleasant in a sort of 'get you from A to B' sense, because it did get me from A to B, but I can't remember the last time I drove a car that completely sucked the fun out of the driving.Steering
The worst part of this car has to be the steering. It feels so stodgy and disconnected from the wheels. You turn the steering wheel and then half a second later the wheels start turning in the direction you want. You try and turn in, then after the initial half a second of stodge, the front wheels begin to bite, and you think 'Ah!', but then the car resists and you're constantly trying to get the car to turn in the direction you want. It's like it's constantly protesting or fighting with you when you try and do anything other than slow gentle manoeuvres. The steering isn't progressive either and has inconsistent weighting.
Ride and Handling
I suspect the handling isn't too bad. It seems to cope reasonably well with a series of high speed manouevres but the steering is so bad, that you don't ever feel like you're really in control of the car. I have to admit that during the first 10 miles of driving this car, I absolutely HATED the way it drove. Over 800 miles, I ended up hating it slightly less, but does sadden me than a manufacturer can produce a £15,000 car that is so mediocre to drive. Not horrendous, but just dull and stodgy.
The current shape Civic is lightyears ahead of this car in terms of sharpness and the immediacy of its responses. With the Civic, if want to dart into a gap, it darts in. You want to do a sharp right and it does a sharp right. It's like an extension of you. The Astra is a bit like a fat woman with her arms crossed and a constant frown who refuses move despite how much you shout at her. The only way she moves is when you give her a big boot up the backside, and even then she doesn't quite end up the direction that you want her to....
Ride quality is knobbly, even with what looked to be 205/55/16s. It wasn't uncomfortable, but you definitely know whether you're on a badly surfaced road because you feel every indentation and pothole. This car also seems to have a lot of choppy vertical movement over bumps and crests for some reason.
Engine
The 1.6 engine...well its a 1.6 engine with 120bhp or so, so it's never going to set the world alight. But it's just so...'ho hum'. Some low capacity engines provide verve even if they are lower power, but this engine simply does the job of getting the car moving and nothing more. Bit throbby and uneven at idle with some vibrations going through the seat, and it even sounds a bit diesely gruff at low speed in 2nd. Strangely, it seems to even out a bit at higher revs. Not a particularly economical engine - I got 33mpg average over what was mostly motorway miles (Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and back). Compare that to the 36mpg average of the more powerful 1.8 Civic over the same journey...
Refinement and build quality
In terms of refinement and build quality, there's a lot of noticeable wind noise around the A pillars at speed as well as tyre rumble. That drones out the engine, which is relatively quiet at speed in comparison. The lights on the radio/trip/AC/temp controls didn't work so you had to fumble for the control at night which is a bit worrying for car with 5k on the odometer. Didn't notice any squeeks or rattles though.
Overall
Overall, I'd give it 5/10. The Golf, Civic and particularly the Focus, are significantly better.
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*Groan* ![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
